This is the year of Linux on the desktop.

Valve has released 100 linux native games. AlienWare just released a gaming rig with Linux installed. Dell offers both desktops and notebooks with Linux. Metro sucks. And other reasons I can't think of right now.

Linux's marketshare should be increasing greatly over the next few years. And thanks to Valve more people are hearing about Linux then before.

Each of the last 15 years has for various reasons been touted as the year of the Linux desktop. Each year it doesn't happen.

- Gaming PCs are a very small niche relative to mainstream usage, and only a very small percentage of those users care about Linux gaming. If Linux gaming makes any real headway anywhere it'll be as a console-type unit offered by Valve or someone else.- Dell and other mainstream manufacturers have long offered Linux preinstalled on desktops and laptops.- Other Windows OSes have been far worse than 8. At least its issues are largely limited to the GUI and not the underlying architecture.

I had a look at the Linux games on Steam and they are not very impressive. I don't see any of the big titles from the last few years. No Blizzard games or the Total War Series or BioWare RPG's as far as I can tell. When these games get ported to Linux we can start taking it seriously as a gaming platform.

And as mentioned gaming is only a small part of the PC market. What about software people use for work like MS Office or Photoshop? And let's not forget that Windows 7 is still around and still an excellent option. I don't think Windows 8 will be the new Vista but even if it is, how much did the the actual Vista help Linux. People just stuck with XP and they can do the same with 7 if they wish.

Things have *always* been improving for Linux. WTF WHM. How many years are you going to beat this drum? You realize the BF goes back more than 10 years and the say arguments have literally been made *every single fucking year* right?

You think the rest of the world has just stood still while Linux was moving forward?

Christ. I just realized your last thread on this was 6 months ago. Are we going to get one of these every 6 months. I mean, i realize that with such consistency you might be right after a significant enough amount of time.

However, in the meantime, if you're so certain that this is the year of Linux on the Desktop, then let's put some money where our mouths are.

1) How do you define LOTD?2) How much are you willing to bet that this year is the LOTD year?

What percentage of desktops will be running Linux by the calender year end 2013? I want a ballpark figure and a reason for the uplift, not just "more" because you like Linux.

There's nothing wrong in liking or using Linux you know. Just don't screw yourself over with you "don't even own a TV" "Windows Free" scenario for something as pointless as an OS.

If you need an app running on the Macintosh or Windows or the Linux equivelents are shit use that. The important thing with computing is being productive and/or enjoying the experience, nobody's gonna give a monkeys if you're "Windows Free" just for the bragging rights.

Why do I get the feeling that I will dragged kicking and screaming into using Windows 8 for something?

Or Windows 9.

Because it is f'king reality.

Windows is so dominant it almost doesn't matter if you like it. It's just there. You enter the workplace and nine times out of ten, you get handed a Windows PC. No discussion, no debate. Here's what you get.

So, a lot of people talk a good game about being Windows Free, but it's real work.

I like open source and use it every day; have for years. But, I'm under no illusions about LoTD "taking over."

Android shows what it takes for an open source project to win in the consumer marketplace. LoTD has never had that and never will. It's too fragmented and too complex. Applications are too lacking. Those are just two points, but they are in themselves sufficient. All the "but what about ABIWORD" arguments won't change reality.

Or, take a look at Linux where it is doing well, like embedded and servers. Notice how its consumer weaknesses don't matter there. So, even from Linux' success you can see why LoTD isn't doing well.

Well.... why "kicking and screaming"? I get that some UX is worse than others (GIMP and BLENDER have some of the worst UX I've ever used) but Jeez, running a desktop app in Win8 is keystroke-for-keystroke the same as Windows 7 and pretty much the same as Ubuntu and after that you're at the mercy of the app anyway.

IMHO I'd prefer using an app in Win8 over (for example) Ubuntu primarily because at least Win8 knows how to render fonts (although again IMHO it's not as good at it as Win7 was).

It seems odd that, in a world where Linux is dominant now not only in the server world but in the world of smartphones (a bigger market than PCs now!) that anyone should still care about Linux on the Desktop.

You will have to define what "Linux on the Desktop" means before you can declare 2013 to be the year of it. If we use your arguments below to define it however, I will disagree:

whm1974 wrote:

Here's why:

Valve has released 100 linux native games. AlienWare just released a gaming rig with Linux installed. Dell offers both desktops and notebooks with Linux. Metro sucks. And other reasons I can't think of right now.

Linux's marketshare should be increasing greatly over the next few years. And thanks to Valve more people are hearing about Linux then before.

So am I right or wrong?

Wrong, unless by 'greatly' you mean growing by a fraction of a percent.

100 Linux native games is great for Steam customers, but not for the average person who might be the target of a Linux desktop system. Likewise Alienware is not going to make any impact for the average user.

The Dell offerings are good, but insufficient; for the Linux laptops and desktops to qualify for 'year of the desktop', I believe Dell would have to offer only Linux and that they succeed sufficiently to hit a significant number of users.

In other words, it's more correct to say we are in the era of Linux/BSD in your pocket given that combined iOS+Android > all PCs sold in 2013.

Until LOTD hits something like 20% of the desktop/laptop market, it's just a small niche (the same way the Mac is)